Ducasse Banana

17 July - Harvested a bunch of Ducasse bananas (approx 80).  5 1/2 months since first flowering.
The bananas in the bunch are quickly ripening inside. Taste is tart, sweeter than Saba but not as sweet as store-bought bananas. I have eaten them fresh out of hand, or in rice pudding, where the tartness adds a nice contrast.  Baked in the air-fryer (like a Plantain) they are OK, but the lowish sugar content means they are not as tasty as plantains.  Probably a good general-use banana. Next up we will try to dry some, perhaps eat some in a banana-split, and probably try some pisang-goreng (they are quite a firm banana).

Saba Bananas

We have harvested my first saba bananas. These are small, blocky bananas that are much starchier than others and behave differently, even from plantains, which are another type ofr cooking banana.

They were harvested a little early because strong wind blew the banana plant over - the bunch was 4.5 months old (from time of flowering) and they are supposed to take at least 5 months to mature. I cut off the stalk and brought the bunch inside, and the bananas are fortunately ripening, though from the lack of sweetness it is clear they could have done with a few more weeks, if not more, on the plant before harvesting.

How to Enjoy Saba Bananas

• Eat fresh. Even though saba are cooking bananas, they can be eaten fresh. They are fine, with a little sweetness and a little tang (both of which I expect would be enhanced had they matured longer on the plant).
• Pisang Goreng. Saba are the quintessential banana fritter bananas, and hold their shape and texture when fried.  A good recipe can be found here.
• Barongko - steamed, see recipe below

Barongko
250g ripe saba bananas
100 mL coconut milk
1 egg
50 g caster sugar
Bananas leave sections for steaming (appropximately 15cm by 15cm)

Prepare the banana leaves by washing carefully in cold water, patting dry, and passing over a flame to release the oils and soften the leaves so they can be folded without splitting.

Get a steamer going.

Mash the bananas, then mix with the egg, coconut milk and sugar.

Spoon about a ladle's worth into the banana leaf, then fold like a handkerchief and secure with a toothpick.

Place the packets in a steamer and steam on medium heat for about 25 minutes. 

Serve hot or cold.

Bananas and Plantains

The Pacific Plantain began flowering mid December last year and first harvested one of 25 Feb. This was a little too soon, but the next batch picked on 4 March was mature and ripened successfully. The fruit are large and plump, and the bunch is a good size - so far harvested around 30 and we are about half-way through it.
Lots of experiments have been conducted using the fruit.

* Green Plantain mash - boil plantains for 25 minutes, mash with garlic, butter, and plenty of milk. Result: Tasted just like mashed potato, but a little drier. Would be good for croquettes (that's another experiment we are yet to do). Chickens love it!
* Fried Green Plantains - slice into 2 cm pieces and fry. Result is OK, but not as good as tostones
* Tostones - slice into 2cm rounds, fry for 3 minutes, take out and squash, then fry again for 3 minutes
* Green Plantain Tortillas - Works well. Good for quesadillas.

Score the plantain skins.
Microwave the plantains to soften.
Pulse the plantains in a food processor until they turn into plantain dough.
Roll or press the dough into tortillas.
Cook the tortillas in a dry skillet.

* Green Plantain Chips (done in dessicator) - a bit chalky and not really appetising.
* Ripe Plantain Chips (done in dessicator) - doesn't really turn into chips, more like dried banana, but tastes fine
* Baked whole ripe plantains (yellow with black spots) - Bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes. Sweet and yum! (the winner so far)


We have two other banana plants fruiting. One is likely to be a Saba (a cooking bananas) and the other is probably Ducasse Not harvested yet. Watch this space!

January 2019

This has been quite a dry "wet season" compared to the previous one. There has been very little rain in January and for the last week or so plants and trees have begun to look stressed. Some, such as those on the swale area, are dying (jackfruit, pommelo, avocado). It is obvious that in this place in such dry years fruit trees cannot cope with natural rainfall, even with a swale. In fact, I had been giving them some supplemental water, but they just can't cope with these very dry, hot, and windy conditions. Days are constantly around 33, 34 degrees. At least the experiment has proven that fruit trees need to be in the "oasis zone" where they can receive lots of care and attention.

I've begun watering the veggie patch every second day, rather than every day. They aren't happy, and the amount and quality is decreasing. Generally, though, veggies have been quite successful, with heaps of okra and bitter melon. Eggplant also has produced well. Kang kong is amazing, and seems more drought tolerant than other veggies, which is a surprise. The fact that the leaves shade the soil may be part of the reason.

The tanks are running low. The shed tanks are just shy of empty, and the house tanks are at 20%. It will be touch and go whether we need to order in some water, which will be costly and poor quality chlorinated stuff. We are starting to ration the water - watering the garden less, trying to be more efficient with clothes washing etc.

The damn is looking very dry too, even though we have not taken any water from it.

Harvesting Garlic

Garlic harvesting has been a huge success.
However timing is key. The earlier ones I planted (April) were fully mature and ready to harvest before the October rains.
The others planted later (June) needed to be harvested as soon as the rains came to avoid them rotting, and they weren't as well developed.
Also planting in a raised bed produces a better result than directly in the ground.

Planting Summer Veggies

In the last month I've planted the following:
- Okra. Direct from seed and also in seedling pots. Both are fine
- Malabar spinach. Direct, but no luck so far
- Kang Kong, both direct and in seedling pots. Both are fine.
- Cucumber (in the ground and doing well, from seedlings planted into the ground about a month ago)
- Zucchini - already huge and producing fruit. The key, I think, is to get these in as early as possible so you get a decent crop before the humidity sets in. These were probably started from seed at the end of August or early September and put into the ground late September.
- capsicum. Tricky to germinate, and needs warm temps. One is a decent size and in the ground, the rest are still tiny.
- Egglplant (from bought seedlings)
- Yacon (from tubers saved from the previous year)
- Bitter melon (from seed to seedling to bed)
- Rock melon (from bought seedlings)
- Moringa (from seed to seedling to raised mound)
- Pigeon pea (from seed to seedling to bed/ground)
- Shiso - broadcast the seed. Seems Vietnamese shiso doing the best so far.

Turmeric

Harvested 400g of good quality turmeric yesterday. This was from one plant of orange turmeric obtained from Daleys. It was growing in the metal veggie bed, so had lots of soft soil (compost, potting mix, manure, rotted straw) and had been growing since spring. It produced the roots in a fairly small area. I waited until the leaves had mostly dried. The stem was still a little yellow and moist.
For propagation I'm trying a couple of different methods:
- 3 pots planted with tubers that had some roots attached and put in the poly tunnel
- original main rhizome planted in wine barrel in poly tunnel
- 1 brought inside and put in a shady area